Latest News

Economics Ph.D. student Denis Sosinsky and U.C. Berkeley Professor Michael Reich find that the recent increase in the fast food restaurant chain worker California minimum hourly wage to $20 had little effect on the price of hamburgers. For the study click here 

Chris Meissner has a new paper that obtains and analyzes detailed historical data to conclude that the high tarriffs of the late 1800's did little to help the United States become a globally competitive manufacturer. For the paper click here. For media mentions click here.

Professor of Teaching Janine Wilson was recognized by the U.C. Davis campus as the 2024 Outstanding Faculty Advisor, an annual award given to only one faculty member (https://academicadvising.ucdavis.edu/recognition). The award recognizes her work as Undergraduate Chair in the Department of Economics, and also her contributions to the wider campus community.

Giovanni Peri has been appointed the C. Bryan Cameron Distinguished Professor in International Economics at the University of California, Davis. This is in recognition of his outstanding reputation for research on the labor market dynamics of migration and for his teaching and mentorship.

Professor James Bushnell's research in energy economics was profiled by the Energy institute at Haas. See https://haas.berkeley.edu/energy-institute/about/announcements/announce…

Econofact has a podcast in which Professor Christopher Meissner puts the current level of international trade, the depth of global capital markets, and immigration in historical context, drawing on his new book One From the Many: The Global Economy Since 1850. Here is the link to the podcast: https://econofact.org/podcast/a-brief-history-of-globalization

Econofact has a podcast in which Professor Giovanni Peri answers questions such as: What has been the impact, if any, on employment and wages among the native-born? What are the likely impacts of restricting immigration for particular industries and for the economy as a whole? Here is the link to the podcast: https://econofact.org/podcast/a-brief-history-of-globalization

Economics Associate Professor of Teaching Janine Wilson is one of five UCD faculty members asked to speak at one of the five June 2024 commencement ceremonies. In addition to her own teaching and research on economics teaching, Professor Wilson works with faculty to develop curriculum to prepare students for their chosen field, advises the department's student clubs, and co-chairs the committee that puts on an annual university-wide conference for scholarship in teaching innovation.

The UC Davis Global Migration Center, led from the Department of Economics by Professor Giovanni Peri, is a research collaboration across the social sciences, humanities, medicine and law. Learn about their work that weaves facts and human experience into the complexity of how we think about migration, both in the U.S. and globally. Read the story:

In his new book “One from the Many: The Global Economy Since 1850,” Professor of Economics Christopher Meissner details the economic history of the global economy, grounding the idea of globalization in the technologies that have made it possible. Read the story:

Economics Chair Kathryn Russ is part of a new study that includes colleagues in Political Science, Statistics, English and the UC Davis DataLab that is using machine learning to identify how U.S. private companies and industry organizations affect global public health policy. The project is supported by the College of Letters and Science with a major grant through its interdisciplinary initiative L&S Unites.

A new study co-authored by Associate Professor Santiago Pérez shows that for the past 150 years, immigrants in the United States have had lower incarceration rates than those born here, and new research shows that since the 1960s that gap has significantly grown. This new analysis was a data-driven effort to compare the rates at which immigrants and people born in the U.S. commit crime. This paper is also the first to compare incarceration rates over such a long period of time.

Research by UCD Economics Professors Russ, Peri, Bushnell and Rapson features prominently in a comprehensive White House report that included migration, electric vehicle adoption and international trade. The Economic Report of the President, prepared by the Council of Economic Advisors, provides a foundation of leading research for the most pressing economic issues in the country. This year’s report to Congress covers employment, national demographic changes, housing, international trade, the clean energy transition and artificial intelligence. 

The Department of Economics has partnered with the Graduate School of Management and Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics to establish a new undergraduate business major at UC Davis. The major launches in the fall of 2025, bringing to fruition a degree program that was decades in the making and in partnership with the College of Letters and Science.  Read the story:

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